Andy Robertson has leapt to the defence of Scotland manager Steve Clarke and insisted the national side’s display against Portugal showed that he and his teammates can put their Euro 2024 disappointment behind them.
Robertson was devastated when substitute Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late goal in the Nations League match at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on Sunday night and ensured his country ran out narrow 2-1 winners.
However, the Liverpool left back was pleased with how the visitors performed in the difficult Group A1 match despite the final outcome and is optimistic that better times lie ahead in their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Clarke was savaged by fans and pundits when Scotland lost 1-0 to Hungary in Stuttgart back in June and failed to make it through to the last 16 of the Euros - and many Tartan Army foot soldiers called for him to be sacked by the SFA.
But captain Robertson, who was also criticised by supporters for his displays in Germany, believes his manager deserves credit for reaching two finaks and us the best man to lead his homeland forward as they try to reach Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026.
"Without him and his staff, we wouldn't have got to two major tournaments,” he said. “That's a fact.
“When he took over, the country was not in a great place at all. Slowly but surely, we managed to piece it all together. He couldn't have done it without us, but we couldn't have done it without him.
“He's come under criticism, I've come under criticism. The whole team have come under criticism, but that's the way of it. When the results aren't good, everyone looks at the leader, who's the manager.
“The other leader is me, the captain. Then they look at the other big players. That's part and parcel of it. We've been in the game long enough, we know and we can deal with that.”
Read more:
Robertson added: “It's about us trying to believe that we can turn a corner. On Sunday we believed that in the changing room before the game. We believed we could go out there and cause them issues. I think we showed that.
“I think we definitely showed that. I think the way we played, you've seen the belief that we had. We fell short, but if we're going to get beat against a Pot 1 team like Portugal, then that's the way to do it.
“I don't think anyone that was up in the stands tonight could argue that we didn't play for the jersey. No one can say we didn't run as hard as we could, we didn't try and create chances. I think they can be proud of us tonight.”
